I've had one of those horror stories happen with my old 944 and i'll never EVER leave a car at a dealer again. i always go and sit and wait. i make sure that when i schedule the appointment they realize that i mean business (plus, a guy at my work has a friend that works there... so its all good). i look forward to joining the NE section, but at the moment, i don't have an enormous amount of time to do things like that. i'm going to be starting grad school in the summer. if there is anything near Baltimore, I will plan on going. any chance you guys do anything around Carlisle, PA? that's my old stomping grounds and i'm always looking for a reason to go back

 

With the thing about the to many mods for the ECU. Is an Intake, Downpipe, Midpipe, Catback, and FMIC, to many mods for and ECU? Cuz right now i have everything else but but the FMIC and ECU, i am wondering if i should do the ECU or the FMIC or can i get by with the FMIC and no ECU. Or should i do the ECU first?

 

midpipe and no ecu or boost controller = death, your boost with those mods in the exhaust path and the intercooler will raise your boost above 10 and you will get boost spike with the mp.....get an ecu and don't drive it until then

 

I would say you are at high risk even before adding the FMIC. With that combo you must be seeing some huge boost spikes. The stock ECU is only safe for about 10psi. I would be very careful until you get that ECU!

 

if i buy a new downpipe... doesn't that replace the pre-cat and make my car illegal??? i know that i guess i could just get a two setting ECU thingie (technical term) set one to run with the stock pre-cat and the second for the downpipe. then put the pre-cat on for the day of emissions test (i think its only like once every two years here). but... the point was, will it make my car not past emissions to put in a new downpipe?

 

@pugg57

Actually that depends in which state you're living in. But...

A downpipe is a MUST! This is one of the first mods EVER to an FD (if not the very first!).

Heat collected by a clogged pre-cat (which is true in 90% of all cases) will be sent back to the Twins and will destroy them in long-term use.

I understand that you'd like to keep it quite stock, and that is fine (I myself am keen of keeping it as "stock" as possible). But, believe me, the DP is still a MUST.

As for the emissions: Down here in Europe (Switzerland) we have severe restrictions on those tests. As I put the DP on mine, I had to think about the same probs. But there will be no influence on the emissions test with a missing pre-cat. Short: Mazda was too precautious....

Best regards&have fun

Patrick

 

That's not entirely true. Technically modifying any part of the air flow of a car for stock is illegal (Federal law). However some states choose to enforce that, some states don't.

pugg57,

First thing to do is to find out exactly what are the requirements of your city/state for car registration. Some states test emissions, some states do visual tests only. Once you determine the requirements of your city/state, then you can determine what upgrades are right for you.

 

Mahjik is correct, technically it is required, but you should be able to pass with a downpipe installed. The purpose of the precat is for cold-start emissions. Once the main cat is up to temp there is no need for a precat. Since nobody tests cold-start emissions you will pass as long as your main cat is good and hot. Some states do require a visual inspection and they *might* spot the downpipe but unless they really know what they are doing - probably not unless you get some polished stainless one that shines like the sun. If you are really worried about visual you could get a cast iron one that will look like your rusty old precat in no time!

I agree with kingcornflake, the downpipe is the best mod. You will be shocked at the difference in underhood temperature. No more baking those vaccuum lines and all the other plastic that mazda put in there! The performance difference is also noticeable.

 

I also am a new FD owner and I've been told to start from the ground up when I called around looking for answers. So my first upgrade was performance tires, I've also started looking into suspension.

 

do the gains of 60 hp that pettit claims seem realistic for these mods? (its a cold air induction, pulley system, and a 3" stainless catback with a 4" tip)

 

This paricular series of posts hs been very helpful to me, as well. Are there any Michigan area RX7 groups, or any from nearby states?

 

pugg57, you said the downpipe has already been replaced, correct? If that's the case then you don't need to get a new one. If you still have the stock one then I must have misread something.

On the wheel issue, sure there are plenty of supposedly "nice" looking wheels out there for reasonable prices. The thing is they are heavy and generally speaking just not very good wheels. The stock wheels are nice and light weight which benefits how the car handlles. More unsprung weight (weight that is not supported by the suspension--wheels, brakes, suspension arms, etc) makes the suspension have to work harder to control motion. Since the stock wheels are nice and light you want to find something that will not weigh too much more. There is some leeway and you don't have to go with the absolute lightest rim out there but you should go for a light(er) wheel. For $200 a wheel you're not really going to find such an option so you might as well just put sticky tires on the stock wheels and concentrate on some other area of the car. You can fit a 245/45-16 tire on the stock wheels and that is plenty wide to give you very high levels of traction especially with not too many mods. Unless of course you really do want it to have the look of big wheels.

 

Sounds right, I know if you take off the cat and use a midpipe you can gain up to 14% more horsepower. Thats 35.7 more horsepower with a stock FD(255). Of course that's how it is supposed to work. It's not farfetched to say that this system would improve your car by 50 or 60 HP.

 

There is a Midwest forum on this site - you should try posting that question in there.

 

If pettit claims it they probably have dyno numbers to prove it. The thing that I don't like about that setup is that they keep the stock precat. A DP does so much for these cars (performance and reliability). IMO it is purely worth the money in heat reduction alone - the performance boost is like a bonus. Sure you can easily replace the precat with a DP, but then you would most likely boost more than 10psi and run dangerously lean with the stock ECU. Also, I don't have an underdrive pulley set because I am nervous about underdriving the water pump. It would probably be fine with an aftermarket radiator, but I think I am a little paranoid when it comes to rotaries and heat.

 

So if I were to remove both catalytic converters, I'd definitely need a new ECU, right?

 

Usually...

midpipe = boost spike and/or creep = lean AFR = detonation = blown apex seal(s)

Also...

midpipe = high emissions = stinky car (but at least its a fast stinky car)

The ECU needs to add fuel to keep AFRs nice and rich at higher boost levels. Either that or you have to find a way to limit boost to 10psi. Check out this link:

http://www.newwave.net/~flanham/wlan.../3modrule.html

Also do a little more searching. The ECU topic has been discussed to death on this board.

 

ecu first. this may prevent the costly engine replacement that most of us have experienced. next would be a fuel management upgrade including fuel pump, fuel rails, injectors, and pressure regulator. do not turn up the boost until you have the fuel to prevent detonation.....................period